Intel dual-core Extreme Edition CPU reviewed

Earlier than expected, Intel has pulled back the curtains on its first dual-core desktop processor, the Pentium Extreme Edition 840. The EE 840 is basically two Prescott CPU cores situated together on the same die running at 3.2GHz. They talk to one another and the rest of the system via a shared 800MHz front-side bus. Unlike lower-brow versions of the dual-core Pentium, the Extreme Edition has Hyper-Threading enabled, so that a single processor gives the impression of four CPUs in Windows' Task Manager. As one might expect, performance on single-threaded applications, including nearly all games, is lower than higher-clocked single-core Pentium 4 processors. Multithreaded applications show performance gains, however.

You can read reviews of Intel's first dual-core desktop CPU at Legit Reviews, Trusted Reviews and Hexus. I would love to give you my take on this product, but that will have to wait for another day. Intel has elected to exclude TR from the initial round of dual-core Pentium EE reviews. Sorry, folks.